Tet Holiday (Lunar New Year)

Tet Holiday (the Vietnamese New Year celebration according to the Lunar calendar) is three days long. This year, it began on the 29th of January. I had the chance to spend the first day of Tet with Tram and some of the other Vietnamese students in Garden Grove ("Little Saigon" in California), hop on a plane that night for an 18 hour flight to Vietnam, and have a traditional Tet meal with Tram's family in Hanoi on my arrival. It was a whirlwind but wonderful to be able to take part in the festivities both in the States and in Vietnam.




In "Little Saigon," we went to a mall that looks a great deal like one of the shopping centers in Hanoi...same products and everything is in Vietnamese. They had the traditional drums and dragon dance and several women dressed up in ao dai (the traditional Vietnamese dress). There was a big festival that night but by the time we found parking, it was time for me to leave for the airport to catch my flight to Hanoi.



Tram's family was waiting for me at the airport...what a warm welcome. I was able to have a few hours to unpack and receive a few phone calls and visits from students who wanted to wish me "many successes and beauty more and more" before going over to have a special Tet meal with Tram's family and my friend, Scot, from Canada. Tram's family told me that it was extra special to not only to have two foreigners share a Tet meal with them, but who represented two different countries. It was a great evening and I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to spend the holiday with them.